I've never really been a fan because he doesn't have any elite pitches (and uses deception to succeed). You're right, he is a nice #3, but eventually he's going to get paid a lot of money. His stock will never be higher, it just makes sense to trade him now.

When no one can say anything negative without being painted in this way, it's embarrassing to other sox fans. It's downright childish. When other teams speak ill of our fan base, it's this kind of stuff that's at the heart of it.

I guess- but young, quality pitching under control for a few more years- is a great way to free up payroll to go after other holes where your farm system can't help (like 3rd base and catcher)-if we're trading 24 year old LHPs who have 2 solid seasons behind them- then we're in complete rebuild mode- and based on JR's and Hahn's comments over the past few days- that's not their strategy.